Dental Patient Story

Our dental patient came to us on her first visit in the fall of 2020, very ashamed and emotional about the condition of her teeth. She was crying and didn’t even want us to look at her teeth—she only kept asking to just have them all removed, and dentures placed. After hearing her story and letting her know she was in a safe space, she finally allowed Lucy, our dental hygienist, to take x-rays and Dr. Remming, our dentist, to take a look. She had not been to the dentist in over 20 years and actually had very pretty teeth underneath the years of heavy tartar buildup.

The patient recently completed her 5th visit and seems so much happier and proud of her smile. She no longer wants to extract all of her teeth and get dentures and she is beginning to smile more. It really is inspiring to see her confidence restored with some basic dental care. She told Lucy the other day that, “She is so grateful that God brought her to us.”

She does, however, need work that we cannot complete. She needs a partial and some crowns. We tried to refer her to another practice, but she refuses and wants to wait until we are able to treat her. I cautioned her that it could be over two years before we are able to complete the treatment that she needs and in the meantime her condition may worsen---she still wants to wait for us.

This “wait for us” message is one that is very common among the patients at Tepeyac. They feel at home with the care they receive and do not want to go anywhere else, even if it means waiting years. This is definitely a testament to the foundation the medical/BH and entire team at Tepeyac has done to build relationships with our families. It does, however, create some obstacles for long term health.

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